My apologies; I should have been more clear. I wasn't asking about recommended tire widths. Rather, I was asking Max what the clearance in the rear triangle of his AR is, and then more broadly what other AR owners can say about the changes in clearances over the history of the AR model.
As best I can tell, from the early RBW publications and from owners' photos and descriptions in various places online, there are ARs out there with clearances enough for Rat Trap Pass tires and fenders, and there are ARs out there (like mine) that definitely do *not*. I wonder how much of this variation arose from changes in specifications over the course of the model's life, and how much can be attributed to owner choices in what seems to have been a semi-custom program. -- Bob On Friday, November 21, 2025 at 6:09:41 PM UTC-7 GAJett wrote: > Re. tire sizing. A very good discussion from 2013 on the Rene Herse > website "How Wide a Tire Can I Run? > <https://www.renehersecycles.com/how-wide-a-tire-can-i-run/>" Recommends > a *minimum* of 3mm between the tire and any part of the frame or fender. > AND you must use the actual width of the tire rather than that molded into > the sidewall. Seems a good place to start. > GAJett > > On Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 12:13 PM Bob <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Max, that is a beautiful bike. Congratulations. My AR is about the same >> size, but orange (and thus faster). >> >> Regarding tires: I'm curious to know how much clearance you have, >> particularly in the rear triangle. I'm the third owner of my AR, and not >> sure of the vintage, exactly, but my guess is early 2000s. I run Humptulips >> tires, endurance casing, and love the tires, but I have only 5 mm of >> clearance beneath the seatstay bridge, 3 mm of clearance at the chainstays, >> and 4 mm of clearance at the fork blades. Part of the problem is that the >> rims are Cliffhangers. A different rim might give me a millimeter or two >> more clearance, at least horizontally, but not enough to run fenders. >> Likewise, Rat Trap Pass tires might buy me yet another millimeter, but, >> again, not enough for fenders. Were I to fender the bike, I would certainly >> size down to Naches Pass. (Oh, how I wish for a 47–48 mm actual-size René >> Herse 26-inch tire.) >> >> I use endurance casing on my two 26-inch-wheeled bikes and I find them >> plush and fast. >> >> For those who have more experience with ARs, do you have a sense of how >> actual clearances changed? I specify "actual" because I've combed the >> archived mailers, brochures, and catalogs for AR data and the best I can >> come up with is that stated tire clearance tightened just slightly from >> 2.35 inches in 1995 and 1996 publications to 2.1 inches in 1997 or 1998. >> >> -- >> Bob >> >> On Wednesday, November 19, 2025 at 9:49:12 AM UTC-7 maxcr wrote: >> >>> Hi Everyone, >>> >>> As mentioned in the CL thread, I was the lucky buyer of the AR from eBay. >>> >>> Here's a bad photo from my basement last night after picking it up. I >>> promise better photos at some point in the future: >>> >>> [image: IMG_8327.jpg] >>> >>> I've always been curious about the early models, the 26 wheels on large >>> frame with a tighter geo, canti posts and great tire clearance made it >>> super appealing to me. The price was fair, larger ARs don't come up for >>> sale often. >>> >>> I'm really happy that my hunch was correct, it's a 59! Which is the >>> goldilocks size for me and more appropriate than 57 or 58. >>> >>> The seller said that the owner was a doctor who recently passed away and >>> his wife has been slowly selling his bikes through a friend who used to >>> work at their LBS (he has a couple of tandems, a Jack Taylor, a Ti Seven >>> and others that he's going to list). The bike has the original owners name >>> in the top tube, which is kinda cool, to keep the legacy going for him. >>> >>> Now the details. The bike is an early model. Based on the serial >>> (JS0030) and the JB in the chain stay, it's a Joe Starck /Joe Bell combo >>> from 2000. It's also number 30. 30 what? I don't know, the 30th All-Rounder >>> ever built? Maybe. >>> >>> The metallic blue paint with the cream head tube is just amazing even >>> after 25 years. There are some minor blemishes and chips as you would >>> expect from a bike that has been ridden, but it's really in top condition. >>> >>> I will probably ride it as is for a bit, but have plans to rebuild it. >>> The Ultegra group with brifters isn't what I want. I will probably keep the >>> drops (they say N Grand Randoneur which I assume is a Nitto noodle variant) >>> but need to see if they will work for me. I also plan to swap out the >>> drivetrain - probably put on a NOS Ritchey Logic crankset that I have or a >>> TA Carmina that I recently acquired paired with an XTR rapid rise RD (or >>> maybe an OM-1?). >>> >>> For tires, I'd love your thoughts. I'm thinking of RH Rat Trap Pass >>> tires, unless you convince me that the Naches Pass or the Simworks Homage >>> are a better option. I might want to keep it fendered, not sure... but >>> these fenders won't clear a really wide tire. >>> >>> Anyway, please offer your suggestions as I rethink this build. It won't >>> happen until next year given my time availability and other projects in the >>> pipeline. >>> >>> As you can see my downsizing isn't going well. I think I'm up to 11 with >>> the latest purchase of that time capsule brown Saluki and this AR. At some >>> point some will have to go, but I have a feeling that the AR is a keeper. >>> >>> Cheers >>> Max in Boston >>> >> -- >> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> > To view this discussion visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/c45f8449-e3ef-460f-8ff2-1332de20c714n%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/c45f8449-e3ef-460f-8ff2-1332de20c714n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/3910a889-ba6e-4513-8b4f-dd748e163244n%40googlegroups.com.
